Gravitational Waves, Dark Matter Detectors, and Narwhal Tusks: NOVA Next Week in Review

This Week’s NOVA Next Feature Article

We’re about 12 million cosmic ray collisions from better understanding dark matter. Luckily, the AMS detector on the ISS is recording hundreds every second. NOVA Next contributor Veronique Greenwood shows how physicists are chasing dark matter this very minute.

The blue hues in this composite image of the "bullet cluster" show where dark matter is distributed. The image was created by gravitational lensing of galaxies in the background.

In other news from NOVA and around the web:

On Monday, cosmologists revealed what could be the biggest discovery in physics since the 2012 Higgs boson announcement. The BICEP2 experiment, stationed at the South Pole, detected gravitational waves for the first time. The data lifts a veil on the beginning of our universe. NOVA’s blog “The Nature of Reality” also has more on this exciting development .
Speaking of waves, planetary scientists have observed ocean waves on the surface of Titan , Saturn’s largest moon.
Why can’t Pluto be a planet? Neil DeGrasse Tyson explores the controversy in “The Pluto Files,” streaming online .
As Neil deGrasse Tyson picks up the “Cosmos” torch, NOVA’s Secret Life of Scientists is tipping its hat to Carl Sagan. Watch Secret Life scientists discuss their love of Sagan .
What keeps physicists up at night? Many things, but one of them is the idea that a loophole in quantum theory could kill our concept of “free will.”

Missed this week’s NOVA broadcast? Watch "Venom: Nature’s Killer" online.

Did you enjoy classifying clouds with NOVA Labs’ Cloud Lab ? Check out these stunning images from National Geographic of noctilucent, “night-shining” clouds.
What do fuel cells—which power zero-emission cars—and hydrothermal vents have in common? Both could create conditions ripe for the very foundation of life .
Power lines look like terrifying bands bursting with ghoulish light. Why? Because they can see ultraviolet light .
The narwhal’s pointy tusk that might serve as a nerve-rich sense organ , helping it navigate and perceive the ocean.
Meet Jonathan, St. Helena’s 182-year-old tortoise .
Almost a year ago, Hugh Herr and Neville Hogan wrote for NOVA Next on the challenges Boston marathon bombing amputees face. Now, with Herr’s help, one of those survivors has overcome the odds to dance again.
A company called Tomnod is crowdsourcing the search for the missing Malaysian plane.
NOVA Next contributor Phil McKenna appeared on Al Jazeera America’s The Stream Monday night to discuss identity theft, data brokers, and privacy. Read his original report for NOVA Next.